FOBT are commonly used clinically to detect occult blood loss from gastrointestinal (GI) lesions. For example, carcinoma of the colon and rectum is the most serious cancer in the U.S. and second only to lung cancer in causing death--approximately 100,000 new cases and 50,000 deaths annually. Because colorectal cancer is slowly progressive with a long asymptomatic period, it provides an ideal opportunity for early detection and successful therapy. Thus, FOBT are a rational attempt at early diagnosis because the colorectal lesions frequently bleed, and routine noninvasive testing is possible. Similarly, hospitals and physicians very often utilize FOBT to detect or monitor GI lesions resulting from disease, injury, surgery, and other causes.
Early FOBT involved shipping entire 24-48 hour fecal collections in paint cans to central laboratories for testing with an acidified guaiac solution and hydrogen peroxide. Guaiac is a complex plant extract containing the leuco dye, alpha guaiaconic acid. Leuco dyes are oxidized by hydroperoxides in the presence of catalyst to form a blue color: ##STR1## Because hemoglobin is an efficient catalyst (pseudoperoxidase), feces may be tested for occult blood using a leuco dye/hydroperoxide reagent. Nonetheless, the procedure remained very poorly utilized because of the disagreeable nature of the test and physicians were largely denied this very useful information.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,006 describes a FOBT technique that popularized the guaiac-based test for occult blood in feces. It employs a slide having a sheet of guaiac-impregnated paper between a front panel and a rear panel with openings in the panels and pivotal flaps to cover the openings. A fecal specimen is placed on the paper through the opening in the front panel and that panel is closed. The rear panel is then opened and a hydrogen peroxide developer is placed on the paper via the opening in the rear panel. If blood is present in the specimen, the paper will turn blue. A commercial embodiment of this test, called the HEMOCCULT.RTM. test, is widely used in the hospitals and physicians' offices. Despite the widespread popularity of the HEMOCCULT.RTM. test, recent studies have pointed out serious limitations in its sensitivity and specificity. Applicant believes that the sensitivity limitation is due partly to (1) the fact that hemoglobin in many specimens is degraded to derivatives that exhibit little or not peroxidative activity, (2) degradation of peroxidatively active hemoproteins by the hydroperoxide reagent used in the test and (3) the relative insolubility of the degraded products (i.e., iron protoporphyrins such as heme and hemin) in the reagents used in the test. Sensitivity limitations, of course, may cause false negative results. The specificity limitation is probably due to the response of the test to plant peroxidases and/or iron or copper in the specimens or the environment in which the test is run. Specificity limitations lead to false positive results.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,734 decribes a variation in the guaiac-based FOBT that is intended to reduce the incidence of false positive results due to the presence of plant peroxidases in the specimen. It includes a peroxidase denaturing agent such as urea or guanidine hydrochloride together with a metal chelating agent to sequester calcium and magnesium ions that are essential to peroxidase activity. The denaturant and the chelating agent are formulated with the guaiac.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,317 relates to using polar solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethyl formamide (DMF) to stabilize mixtures of organic hydroperoxides and leuco dyes that are used in FOBT. The solvent is formulated in minor proportions with the hydroperoxide and leuco dye. This solution is applied to a solid matrix and the matrix is dried prior to use in testing.
Several references indicate that monomeric species of iron protoporphyrins exhibit greater peroxidase activity than dimeric or aggregated species. Biochem J (1970) 117: 741-744; Biochem J (1973) 135: 353-359; Biochem J (1976) 153: 279-285; and Biochemistry (1974) 13: 4279-4284. Biochem J (1979) 179: 281-289 indicates that hemin occurs in its monomeric form in mixtures of DMSO and water that contain in excess of about 35% (v/v) DMSO.
Biochem J (1968) 108: 131-136 discusses the solubility of nitrogenous ligand-alkaline hematin complexes. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (1977) 498: 205-214 describes the use of various water-soluble polymers such as polyethylene oxide, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, and polystyrene sulfonate to dissolve aggregates of ferroheme and protoporphyrin in alkaline aqueous media.
An object of the present invention is to reduce the incidence of incorrect results (both false positive and false negative) in leuco dye-based FOBT. This is achieved by applying the hydroperoxide or both the hydroperoxide and leuco dye to the specimen in a solution that uses a solvent system that dissolves iron protoporphyrins. Another object is to provide a chromogen that improves test readability and a complete FOBT reagent containing that chromogen.